If the Kabuki theater with all its pomp and pageantry, its colorful costumes,
revolving stage and violent actions and emotions could be called the "yang"
of Japanese drama, then Noh surely is its "yin" counterpart.

Noh drama, it is said, originated with simple popular folk dances and plays
that were performed at Shinto festivals to pray to the gods for abundant
harvests and to give thanks after the harvest.By the fourteenth century,
these simple performances had developed into symbolic
dances performed at the imperial court in Nara.

Unlike Kabuki, Noh plays are performed on an almost bare stage,
open on three sides, simple and plain having neither a curtain nor
background scenery except for a pine tree painted on the rear wall.

Two actors usually perform on stage, the protagonist, who is frequently
the spirit of a person tied to this earth by worldly desires but longing
for salvation and his assistant; both are elaborately costumed and
wear masks. There may also be two or three minor characters and
there is always a chorus, kneeling on the right side of the stage,
reciting the narrative and describing the changes of scene. The
musical accompaniment is not music in the western sense,
it is pure sound provided by three drums and a flute.

The plays are usually brief and several short dramas are performed
at a single sitting. Interspersed between the Noh dramas are comic
skits known as "Kyogen ("crazy words") which offer burlesques
of feudal society and provide comic relief for the unremitting
gloom that pervades nearly all of Noh. The broad and
slapstick humor of Kyogen often depicts clever
servants outwitting their samurai masters.

All Noh dramas have a connection with Buddhism, for in all of the Noh plays,
there is not one where a priest does not appear to lead the ghost of a
fallen warrior or a lady in distress into the blessings of Nirvana.

The principal actor's movements and gestures, however minute, are highly stylized,
formal and carefully measured. Mime constitutes an important part of the drama;
feelings are expressed in symbolic gestures and movements. The manipulation
of a fan can symbolize falling leaves, rippling water or a rising moon;
weeping is expressed by raising a hand to the eyes.

The aim of Noh is to express a desire or yearning, not for beauty, but for
the beauty we dream. The worth of the play then depends less upon the
truth or moral, but upon the total effect of the beauty produced - poetry.

Although not specifically Zen inspired, one observer has noted that
Noh offers an excellent example of the highly refined and disciplined
spirit of Zen aesthetics. Noh, although it cannot be described as a
popular art among the Japanese people as a whole, does have its
supporters who, attend the theaters as connoisseurs with script
in hand, following the actor's every movement and word.
I have attended Noh performances but must admit that
I prefer Kyogen and find them a welcome relief!

Noh in a way is like a fermented bean concoction
("natto") that some Japanese simply love while
others prefer to simply leave.

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